Bonus Space
by Jestress
Summary: It's a sort of Thanksgiving story, but it's also about Scrabble. Basically, it's as fluffy as whipped cream on pumpkin pie, but they catch an assassin in the process. :)
1. The Challenge

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Scarecrow and Mrs. King or any of the characters that appear in the show, although I would happily invite them to Thanksgiving dinner because that would be cool. I own a Scrabble board, but the rights to the classic board game belong to Hasbro (and, apparently, Mattel outside the U.S., but don't ask me to explain that). The playing techniques described in this story were made up by me and probably wouldn't help much in an actual tournament. There are plenty of books on the subject, if you're interested, but since I'm probably not going to be in a tournament, I'm just winging it for fun. I have not received any money for writing this, but I did learn a few new vocabulary words. The words used for the Scrabble game are all allowable according to The Scrabble Word-Building Book compiled by Saleem Ahmed.

**Explanation:** I like word games, and I got the idea for this story while fiddling around with an online Scrabble game. The holiday angle was inspired by the SMK episode The Long Christmas Eve. This story is meant to take place around Thanksgiving during the third season of the show. Happy Belated Thanksgiving, everyone! :D

**Bonus Space**

**By Jestress**

**Chapter 1: The Challenge**

"Okay, people!" Billy Melrose said, calling the meeting to order. "As you know, we need to discuss security for The International Science Symposium that will take place here in DC next week. We've increased security because we have reason to believe that an assassination may take place at the Symposium. Francine, would you give everyone the background on the Chameleon?"

Lee and Amanda glanced at each other. Everyone already knew about the Chameleon. In the last few years, he had become practically a legend, and he'd been the talk of the Agency for weeks.

"No one knows what the Chameleon really looks like," Francine said, reciting the information from the Agency's file on him. "Even his real nationality is unknown. For the past five years, he's been acting as a hired assassin for anyone who will pay him enough. His signature skill is that he is a master of disguise. He tends to disguise himself as someone close to his victims in order to gain access to them."

At this point, Billy took over the explanation. "During the last year, he has killed three people in the United States. Two of them were Russian defectors. For the first one, he disguised himself as an old friend of his victim, and for the second one, he was disguised as the man's son. The third victim was a lawyer who was collecting evidence against a crime syndicate in Chicago. In that case, the Chameleon actually managed to disguise himself as the man's girlfriend."

"Sir?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, Amanda?"

"If the Chameleon is always in disguise, how can we be sure that he's been the assassin in all these cases? I mean, could there be more than one person involved, and that's why the Chameleon can impersonate so many different people?"

"The best intelligence we have says that the Chameleon is a single individual," Billy said. "The KGB is one of his biggest clients, and a couple of our people on the inside have assured us that, although they've never seen him personally, the Chameleon is just one man who always prefers to work alone."

Francine added, "And in every case, the MO remains the same. He waits until the last minute or almost the last minute to replace the individual he is impersonating, leaving that person somewhere unconscious or incapacitated, but not dead. He only kills his intended target, and he tends to strike in public places with large crowds."

"Which makes the Symposium a perfect place for him to strike," Billy said. "Our latest intelligence indicates that the Chameleon is again working for the KGB, and that his next target is going to be Dr. Maxim Volkov. Dr. Volkov defected to the U.S. three years ago, and he is due to give a speech and receive an award for his work in robotics at the International Science Symposium here in D.C.. Scarecrow is heading up the team to organize security for the Symposium and to guard Dr. Volkov."

Lee nodded. "Aside from my partner," he said, smiling at Amanda, "I've already chosen Scofield, Parker, Lang, and Corbett for the main security team. We will have additional guards on duty the day of the Symposium. Even though the Chameleon probably won't strike until the day the Symposium begins, we've made sure that Dr. Volkov has been under guard since we first became aware of the threat. We've also put together complete dossiers on the people closest to Dr. Volkov in an effort to figure out possible disguises that the Chameleon might use. So far, we have narrowed it down to six most likely suspects."

"Who are the six you consider most likely?" Billy asked.

"They're family members and personal friends that Dr. Volkov invited to the Symposium. They're actually guests of Dr. Volkov and his wife for Thanksgiving, and they will be staying to attend the Symposium next week. We've including Mrs. Volkov on the list of suspects along with Dr. Volkov's son and his wife. The other three are colleagues of Dr. Volkov. However, Dr. Volkov will have a number of other professional colleagues at the Symposium."

"You and your team will have to watch everyone at the Symposium," Billy said, "but concentrate on these six in particular and, of course, guard Dr. Volkov at all times. Tell your people to be exceedingly careful about who they allow to go near Dr. Volkov. This is the first time we've known who the Chameleon's next victim is beforehand, so this is the first real chance we've ever had to catch him. Work out your surveillance schedules and have them to me by the end of the day tomorrow. Do you have someone scheduled to watch Dr. Volkov on Thanksgiving?"

"I'll do that myself," Lee said.

Billy nodded. Lee lived alone, and his only relative was an uncle who lived on an Air Force base, so he often worked holidays. It was nice that he helped free some of the other agents so they could spend time with their families, but Billy often wished that Lee would learn to take some time for himself . . . and maybe a certain special someone.

"On a lighter note, there is one final piece of business we need to discuss," Billy said. "I have just received an invitation from Cryptology to their Scrabble game. It takes place this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I'm going to need a volunteer to represent Field Section."

Everyone in the room groaned, except for Amanda. She looked at Lee questioningly. He just shook his head sadly.

"So, who's going to volunteer?" Billy asked.

Lee looked down at the table silently. Francine flipped through the notes in front of her. People all around the room were avoiding Billy's gaze.

"Come on, people! It's not that bad! It's just a game of Scrabble."

Amanda could hear the frustration in Billy's voice. Why was everyone acting so strange about a game of Scrabble?

"Sir! I'd like to volunteer!"

Lee turned swiftly to face her, eyes wide. He shook his head furiously. Everyone else in the room was just staring at her. Billy, on the other hand, looked pleased.

"Now, there's someone with some team spirit!" he said. "We all appreciate your enthusiasm. I'll have Lee brief you on the rules of the game."

"Sir!" Lee spoke up, clearing his throat. He didn't often call Billy, "Sir," so everyone knew that he was trying to get his attention. "I really couldn't spare Amanda for the Scrabble game. Since I'm coordinating the security team, I'm going to need my partner."

"The Scrabble game is the day after Thanksgiving," Billy reminded him. "It only takes a couple of hours, and it will be over long before the Symposium. In fact, if memory serves, Amanda has that day off anyway. It won't interfere with her duties at all. That is, if you don't mind helping us out that afternoon?" Billy looked at Amanda hopefully.

Lee was still giving Amanda warning looks, but everyone else was looking at her with pleading eyes, even Francine.

Wondering what she was getting herself into, Amanda said slowly, "I'd be happy to help."

Everyone in the room looked relieved, except for Lee.

"Thank you, Amanda! Well, now that that's settled," Billy said with a grin, "the meeting is concluded. Amanda, the Scrabble game starts at one o'clock on Friday. Lee will brief you on the rest. Good luck!"

As the others got up, they all thanked her and wished her luck, too.

"Thank you," Amanda said uncertainly. Lee was sitting there with his hand over his eyes.

Amanda started to get up also, but Lee grabbed her arm and kept her in her chair while the others left.

Once they were alone in the meeting room, Lee demanded, "Why did you volunteer for the Scrabble game?"

"Because Mr. Melrose seemed to need someone so badly," Amanda said. "What's wrong with Scrabble?"

"This is a Scrabble game with Cryptology! Crypto always wins! Everyone knows that!"

"Then why did Mr. Melrose accept their invitation to the game?" Amanda asked.

Lee sighed. "It's sort of traditional. Every year, around Thanksgiving, Crypto, Scenarios and Ciphers, Internal Affairs, and Field Section have a little contest. The departments take turns deciding what kind of contest it's going to be. Remember when Billy had to dress as Santa for the Christmas party a couple of years ago?"

"Yes," Amanda said. That was the year she had started working for the Agency. It had struck her as very festive but not quite in character for Billy.

"Well, he lost the contest that year. That was Scenarios and Ciphers's turn to pick the contest, and Dirty Tricks usually picks bets on sporting events. That means that the outcome is usually pretty random. The year after that, it was Internal Affairs's turn to pick the contest, and they usually base it on departmental efficiency ratings, so it's pretty straightforward. This year, it's Crypto's turn."

"And they've chosen Scrabble?"

"They _always_ choose Scrabble," Lee said, rolling his eyes. "And they always win. They're masters at word games. Scenarios and Ciphers always comes in second because words come naturally to them, too. Internal Affairs and Field Section are left to compete not to be in last place."

"Because the department in last place gets the Santa suit?"

"Right."

"So, if I lose the Scrabble game, Mr. Melrose will have to wear the Santa suit again?"

"Actually, it's usually the departmental representative in the contest who has to wear the suit," Lee said. "Billy was the one who placed the department's bet a couple of years ago, which is why he got stuck with the suit."

"So, then, if I lose, I have to wear the suit?" Amanda asked. No wonder nobody wanted to volunteer.

"Amanda," Lee said patiently, "Santa Claus is _Father_ Christmas. It's a part for a man to play. As your male partner, I'm probably going to be the one stuck in the suit."

"What for?" Amanda asked. "It's just a costume. With the hat and the beard, it could be anyone in the suit. It might be a little silly, but I'd be willing to do it for the duration of the Christmas party if I lose."

"Billy's too chivalrous to allow you to do that."

Amanda looked at him skeptically.

"And I am, too," Lee added with a sigh. "Although, if I get stuck with the part, I'm not above making you Santa's Little Helper."

"Of course, that's only if I lose," Amanda reminded him. "What happens if I win?"

"Don't try to win!" Lee warned her. "I'm telling you, nobody has ever beat Crypto at Scrabble! Just try not to be in last place so the Santa suit will be Internal Affairs's problem, not ours."

"With an attitude like that, I'm not surprised that no one's ever won against them."

"Amanda, I've seen these games before. Believe me, nobody else can come up with the words they do. Half the time, they come up with words that no one else has ever heard of before."

"You don't think that they're making words up, do you?"

"No, they don't make up words. They're just good at finding obscure ones. The one thing you should absolutely never do in a game with them is to challenge the words they use. There's a penalty for wrongly challenging a word, and that's one of the ways they trip their opponents up. Mrs. Marston will be there to keep score and to check any words that are challenged, but take my word for it, Crypto has never once been wrong about a word."

"Alright, I won't challenge them."

"Good." Lee hesitated. "Look, Amanda, it was nice of you to volunteer for this to help Billy, especially on your day off, but I just want you to understand that these games get pretty cut-throat. It's not going to be like spending an afternoon playing Scrabble with your mother."

"I know. Mother invents words all the time and thinks they should be allowed as long as she can use them in a sentence."

Both Lee and Amanda laughed.

"Well, I know that Billy is thankful for your help. The rest of the department is pretty thankful, too."

"I'm sorry you have to work on Thanksgiving," Amanda said.

"It's alright," Lee said. "I didn't have any plans anyway."

Before Amanda could express that she was sorry about that as well, Lee said, "I'm still worried that we're missing something with the Chameleon. I mean, narrowing down his disguise options is good, but so many people will be at the Symposium, there's no way we can be sure to cover all our bases."

"I don't know why Dr. Volkov still wants to go to the Symposium in the first place," Amanda said. "I'd think that it would better for him to stay home with his family instead."

"The award he's receiving is a huge honor," Lee explained. "He doesn't want to pass that up. It's also the first award he's received since he came to this country. It makes him feel good that he's been accepted by the scientific community. It's just a shame that the guy is so popular that there are a lot of possible people the Chameleon could impersonate."

"It'll be alright," Amanda said confidently. "We'll manage somehow."

Lee smiled. That was one of the things he liked about Amanda. She was always sure of him, even when he wasn't and was willing to back him up all the way. He was thankful for her confidence in him and her support.

"Still, I'm going to go over the guest list for the Symposium again and try to dig up as much as I can on Dr. Volkov's colleagues."

"I'll help you."

"Then, we'd better get busy. We'll get as much done as possible before Thanksgiving, so you'll be free to enjoy the day with your mother and the boys."

"I wish I could ask you to join us," Amanda said softly.

"It's okay," Lee said. "I'll be fine."

"I'll save you a piece of pumpkin pie."

Lee grinned. "I'll look forward to that."


	2. The Game

**Chapter 2: The Game**

The Chameleon sat alone in a hotel room, pouring over the information on the latest mission. It was going to be easy. It was always easy. They never saw it coming. Afterward, it would be just a matter of disappearing again, something which had never presented any difficulties in the past.

Sometimes, it actually got a little dull. The same routine. The easy victories. But, success was important, and the pay was good.

There was also the satisfaction of knowing that, even surrounded by many people, including professional security guards, the victim would never stand a chance. Even though the Chameleon could only gloat in private, gloating was definitely one of the perks of the job.

The KGB had already provided all the information and photographs needed for the latest disguise, and the Chameleon had assembled the necessary makeup and props. Just a few more days before the event . . .

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

At precisely one o'clock in the afternoon on Friday, Amanda faced her three opponents across the Scrabble board.

"Remember," she told herself, "you're playing for the honor of Field Section . . . and so that Lee or Billy won't have to wear that silly Santa suit." Although, if she lost, she was still going to offer to wear the suit herself. There was no reason why Lee or Billy should have to suffer.

While Mrs. Marston reminded everyone of the basic rules of Scrabble, Amanda studied her fellow players. Bob Pearson from Internal Affairs looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Linda Montgomery from Scenarios and Ciphers was listening intently to the rules. Her fingers twitched as if she couldn't wait to get her hands on some letters and start making words. Cryptology was represented by Mike Ogilvy. He met Amanda's gaze with a smug grin.

"Already congratulating yourself?" Amanda thought. "We'll see about that."

Mrs. Marston had them draw letters from the Scrabble bag to determine who would go first. Everyone groaned when Mike drew an "A" from the bag. Cryptology already seemed to have a natural advantage. Now, they would have the advantage of the double word score for putting down the first word.

The first word that Mike put down was "atomy." It ended on a double letter score space and was worth 28 points. It was a great start for Crypto but horrible for everyone else. Amanda took note of the gloomy expressions on the faces of the other players. She had never heard the word "atomy" before, but remembering what Lee said, she didn't challenge it.

"Your turn," Mike said, looking at Amanda with that same smug smile.

Amanda looked down at her letters. All consonants. This could be a long game. Someone cleared their throat impatiently. Giving her fellow players a sharp glance, Amanda used the "o" in "atomy" to make the word "frogs." It was a simple word, but she managed to use two triple letter score spaces and earned 19 points.

Linda groaned. "I was going to use that space."

"First come, first served," Bob said. He seemed pleased that Scenarios and Ciphers was disappointed.

Mike smiled condescendingly. "Beginner's luck, no doubt."

Amanda gritted her teeth and smiled back. "Just you wait," she thought.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

Lee put down the file he'd been reading and rubbed his temples. Even though Amanda had the day off, she had come in to help him review the files on Dr. Volkov's friends, family, and colleagues before the big Scrabble game. Not that they hadn't already been reviewing these files all week, but Lee wanted to know as much as possible about the people the Chameleon might impersonate.

He had played so many diverse roles in the past that, no matter how they looked at it, all of the available options were equally likely. With so many people to watch, the agents assigned to the security detail would be hard pressed to cover everyone. Lee was concerned that if the Chameleon managed to replace one of Dr. Volkov's friends or family, they might not notice the switch in time. Knowing as much about these people as possible would help, but there was a lot of information to absorb, and it was difficult to pinpoint what was most important.

Dr. Volkov's wife was named Galina, and they had been married for 30 years. His son Danil and his wife Anna were both in their twenties and had no children yet. Two of their guests, Dr. Simon Oliver and Dr. George Rollins were American. Dr. Oliver was 63 years old and partially deaf in one ear. Dr. Rollins was 42 and allergic to peanuts and penicillin. The third visiting colleague was Dr. Thomas Worthy from England. The picture in Dr. Worthy's file showed him with a thick white beard. He looked a bit like an un-jolly version of Santa Claus.

"Great," thought Lee. He had plenty of information at his fingertips, but none of it told him which of these people the Chameleon would try to impersonate. "Unless I happen to catch Dr. Rollins eating peanuts."

Was it really possible to have agents following everyone around the entire evening on the off chance that one of these people would be the Chameleon's target for impersonation? But what was the alternative? Search every single person attending the Symposium for weapons and/or the Chameleon's disguise? That would just scare the Chameleon away, not to mention getting a lot of important people angry. Lee could feel a headache developing.

It was time to give his eyes a rest. Getting up, Lee went to the small refrigerator he and Amanda kept in the Q-Bureau to get a snack. He smiled when he saw the big pieces of pumpkin pie that had appeared there suddenly this morning. Amanda had brought him a little Thanksgiving treat, just like she'd said she would.

Guarding Dr. Volkov on Thanksgiving hadn't been so bad. Dr. Volkov and his family had eagerly embraced the Thanksgiving holiday and its traditions after they came to the United States, and they had generously let Lee share in their dinner. However, Amanda had still felt a little sorry for him since it had been a working holiday.

After a moment's thought, he decided to wait until after Amanda's game was over to enjoy the treat. It was bound to be a difficult game, and most likely, she was going to lose. They would both need a little cheering up, and the two of them could share the pumpkin pie. For now, Lee decided that he would just make a sandwich.

Before Amanda had gone to join the Scrabble game, Lee had made sure that she had a sandwich also. She'd said that she was stuffed from all the turkey she'd had yesterday, but Lee reminded her that she was always telling him not to skip meals. That was the main reason why Lee had bought the little fridge in the first place.

At the time, he'd told Amanda that it would be handy for those times when they had to work through lunch, which was true. But, his real reason for buying the fridge was because he wanted to make sure that she had something to eat. Something _safe _to eat.

Although she liked to indulge in large breakfasts, most of the time she ate like a bird. Sometimes, when things got hectic, she'd even skip meals. It wasn't just a case of things getting hectic at the office, either. With two boys who were involved in all sorts of activities, her mornings at home often got pretty crazy, and she didn't always have time to make the proper breakfasts that she loved. When Amanda missed a meal, she couldn't focus well. She would get irritable, and the first chance she got, she would accept whatever food was on offer, no matter what it was.

It wasn't so bad if she helped herself to an extra donut or two at staff meetings, but Lee would never forget the day that he'd thoughtlessly eaten her orange, only to learn that it was all that she'd brought with her from home and that she hadn't had time to eat breakfast. He'd given her the sandwich he'd ordered for lunch to make up for it, not knowing that someone had put a hallucinogenic drug in it. Then, he'd spent the rest of the day alternately trying to get the antidote to the drug and trying to save Amanda from her own wild fantasies.

Now that he had his own office, he realized that he had the room to store some provisions for the two of them. It was safer than ordering lunch out, and that way, he could be sure that Amanda would have something on hand to eat even on days when she didn't have time to make anything at home.

Mostly, he let Amanda choose what to keep in the fridge, giving her some money to buy enough food for the both of them. Once in awhile, though, on days when he cooked at home, he'd bring some leftovers in to share with her. Living alone, it wasn't always worth cooking for just himself, but he'd started to do it more often, now that he had a way to share the food with Amanda. More and more, he was thankful for having a partner who also appreciated his cooking.

Lee gazed around the Q-Bureau. It seemed awfully empty since Amanda had gone downstairs. He wondered how her Scrabble game was going.

Actually, it wasn't really Amanda's game. She had only volunteered for it because Billy was trying to guilt someone into doing it, and none of the more experienced agents wanted to because they already knew what those games were like. They were just excuses for Crypto personnel to show off their vocabulary and laugh at the poor losing sucker who got stuck with the Santa suit.

Lee sincerely hoped it wouldn't be Amanda . . . or him. If Amanda lost the game, Lee knew that there was no way that she would be wearing the suit, no matter what she said. Amanda was big on Christmas spirit and probably wouldn't mind wearing a red suit and a beard for a couple hours. She would probably even see the humor in it and use it as a chance to hand out the little presents and cookie trays she prepared for everyone. But, Billy was too nice to let her struggle with the bulky suit, and Lee . . . had other concerns.

Generally, Santa was played by one of the Agency's male employees, but there had been one exception that Lee knew of. Several years ago, Cryptology had lost the sports bet that Scenarios and Ciphers had offered to decide who should wear the Santa suit. The employee who had placed the bet for Cryptology was Evelyn McShane. Evelyn had always been a little on the wild side, so she had come up with a female version of the Santa suit to wear to the Christmas party. A rather revealing Santa suit. The party had gotten a little wild that year, and one of the results was that the departments had unofficially decided that, no matter which employee actually participated in the contest, the Santa would be a man.

It had been awhile since Evelyn McShane's rendition of Santa, and Amanda didn't have the same reputation that Evelyn had, but Lee was determined to make sure that everyone clearly understood that Amanda would not be dressing up this year. Or any year, for that matter.

Hopefully, Cryptology had gotten rid of Evelyn's old outfit, but if it was still around, Mike Ogilvy would be just the kind of guy to unearth it. Ogilvy had a reputation, too. Although Lee had appreciated that skimpy little Santa suit on Evelyn, the last thing he wanted to see was Amanda forced to parade around in that same outfit while men like Ogilvy leered at her.

Lee decided that perhaps he should take a break and see how Amanda was doing. By putting in an appearance, he might also remind Ogilvy that he should be a gentleman. If he even so much as brought up Evelyn McShane, Lee would make sure that Ogilvy wore the costume himself.


	3. Endgame

**Chapter 3: Endgame**

Cryptology had just put down the word "cyst" for 9 points. Amanda was surprised. It wasn't a bad score, especially compared to what the other players were getting, but it was lower than what Crypto had been getting earlier. In the beginning, Mike had been doing amazingly well with words worth more than 20 points, like silex and djins. The low score was also strange because Amanda could see a way that he could earn more points. Was Mike getting over-confident, or was he really running that low on letters that he couldn't make a word just one letter longer?

Amanda studied the board again. It just seemed odd that Mike had stopped one letter short of a double word score space. Even though it was nearing the end of the game, he didn't look like he was hurting that badly for letters yet. Of course, Amanda didn't know what he had to work with, but she suspected he was slacking off. He just sat there, drumming the table with his fingers, like he was just waiting for the formalities to be over so that he could declare himself the winner.

"It's your turn," he said pointedly to Amanda.

"Oh, right!"

Amanda was just assembling her new word when Lee walked in.

"Hey!" Mike said. "No fair coming to give hints to your partner."

"I'm just here to observe," Lee said calmly.

"Well, you'd better stay over there, next to Mrs. Marston," Linda said. "Mrs. Marston?"

Mrs. Marston had been absorbed in studying the score sheet. "What? Oh! Yes, Mr. Stetson. Please stand next to me while you watch."

"Take your turn," Mike said to Amanda.

Amanda put down the word "voice." It covered a double word score space and gave her 20 points. Mrs. Marston checked the value of the word and added it to Amanda's score.

Lee was watching Mrs. Marston's calculations over her shoulder. Suddenly, his eyes widened. It happened just for a second, and then Lee assumed his blank-faced secret agent look. But, Amanda had seen it. So had Mike.

"Mrs. Marston, how does the score stand?" he asked.

"Mr. Ogilvy, you know that the house rules do not allow me to tell you the score before the game is over."

Mike glared at her. They'd made that rule, Lee had told Amanda earlier, because Crypto didn't want the other players to get too discouraged by their high score early in the game and quit. Now, the rule seemed to have an unsettling effect on Mike. He kept giving Amanda speculative little glances.

Everyone was now using up their last letters. Linda put down "tug." Bob put down "owe." Mike's word was "eat," and he was looking slightly nervous.

The mood at the table had definitely changed. Linda was watching Mrs. Marston like a hawk while she did her calculations, and Bob was actually starting to relax and smile.

Amanda was smiling like a cat about to pounce on something tasty, partly because she had a good feeling about her standing in the game and partly because she was enjoying making Mike nervous. Now that she had seen some of Mike's remaining letters, she had realized something. It was a little late in the game to be studying his playing strategy, but it was definitely something to think about for future games.

With the other players watching her intently, Amanda made her final move. Taking her last three letters, she placed them on the board next to a "t."

"T-A-L-L. Tall," Amanda said. "And I'm out."

"You're _out_?" Mike said in disbelief. Another thing Lee had mentioned to Amanda was that Crypto was always the first to go out.

"I'm out," Amanda said, showing Mike her empty letter rack. Then, she flashed him her own smug smile.

"Count up your letters," Mrs. Marston said to the other players.

Their leftover letters needed to be subtracted from their scores and added to Amanda's for the winning bonus. Lee was now openly grinning like shark, and Mike looked as though someone had just pulled the rug out from under his feet.

Her calculations finished, Mrs. Marston said, "The final scores are as follows: Bob Pearson from Internal Affairs, 64 points."

Bob nodded reluctantly. There was a Santa suit in his future, but he was accepting it gracefully.

Mrs. Marston continued, "Linda Montgomery from Scenarios and Ciphers, 103 points."

Eyebrows were raised all over the room. Field Section had never risen above third place before.

"Mike Ogilvy from Cryptology, 116 points."

"Wait a minute!" Mike said.

"And, last but not least, Amanda King from Field Section, 139 points!"

"There must be some mistake!" Mike protested.

"Check the score yourself," Mrs. Marston said, handing him the score sheet.

While he double-checked Mrs. Marston's figures, Linda and Bob congratulated Amanda.

"Amanda, that was great!" Lee said, coming over to give her a hug. "I can't believe it! Although . . . I suppose I should have known better."

"Thanks, Lee!" Amanda said, beaming at him. "Bob, I'm sorry that you have to wear the Santa suit."

Bob waved her apology away. "Don't worry about it. I knew that was pretty likely when I joined the game. It's not so bad. It's all meant to be in fun, anyway. And well worth it to see someone trounce Crypto at Scrabble."

Amanda smiled. "When Lee thought that he might get stuck the with Santa suit, he threatened to make me Santa's Little Helper."

"Amanda!" Lee protested. It was one thing to jokingly threaten her in private, but it was another to have people thinking that he was going to turn her into . . . well, into another Evelyn McShane.

Bob, though, thought it was a great idea. "I wonder if I could recruit a helper for myself," he said with a dreamy look on his face.

Before Lee or Amanda could say anything more, Mike Ogilvy came over to talk to Amanda.

"I just wanted to say congratulations," he said. "That was an excellent game, and you played well."

Amanda solemnly shook his hand. "Thank you. I enjoyed the challenge."

Mike gave her and Lee a small smile. "Next year, it will be Field Section's turn to name the contest. It will be interesting to see what you come up with."

"What does Field Section usually do?" Amanda asked Lee.

"Different things," Lee said. "Generally, we like to change it up from year to year. I think it would be fitting to let you pick the next year's activity. Whatever you decide, I'm sure Billy would agree to it."

Amanda thought for a moment.

"You know," she said. "This Scrabble game was fun. I wouldn't mind doing it next year, too. Except for one thing. I'd like to make a new house rule."

"What?" Mike asked warily.

"Next year, the players have to define each word they use as they use it. No consulting dictionaries allowed."

Mike now looked truly disturbed. "I've got to go now."

Lee raised his eyebrows at Amanda.

"I knew that he didn't really know what 'silex' meant," she said smugly.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

It didn't take long for the news of Amanda's victory to get around the Agency. For the rest of the afternoon, people kept dropping by the Q-Bureau to congratulate her. Some of them brought food, too, so Lee and Amanda ended up having an early dinner. Most of it seemed to be leftovers from Thanksgiving made into other things, like turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, and a turkey casserole with cheese. There were also several slices of pie and a couple of plates of cookies and candy.

"We may have enough for lunch for the next week," Lee commented.

Amanda wondered if she could persuade Lee to take some of the bounty home with him. She knew that Lee could cook, but living alone, he didn't always bother. Since he'd been working on Thanksgiving, he probably didn't even have groceries at home to cook anything. It was times like this that she wished she could tell her family about Lee so that she could invite him over, like she'd wanted to do shortly after she'd first met him. Maybe she could at least slip a few more leftovers into the fridge in the Q-Bureau without him noticing.

Of course, everyone who came to congratulate Amanda also wanted to know how she had accomplished her victory.

"I noticed that Cryptology was showing off, using more complex words when simpler ones would have earned more points," Amanda explained when Billy stopped by.

"What do you mean?" Billy asked, helping himself to a cookie from a plate of treats that people had brought for Amanda.

Lee had gone back to studying the information in his files and was only half listening.

"Well, one of the ways to earn more points in Scrabble is to make good use of the

bonus spaces," Amanda said. "Even small words can be worth a lot of points if you hit a double or triple word score space. Everyone was confused when I used a blank tile to add an 's' onto the end when I was putting down 'fends.' They thought it was a waste because I might need the blank to spell something later, but I thought it was worth it because that extra letter on the end of the word covered a double word score space, so I had twice as many points that turn as I would have gotten otherwise."

"And Crypto didn't do that?" Billy asked. He casually helped himself to a piece of fudge.

"No," Amanda said. "I didn't realize it until we were near the end of the game, when I could tell better what letters they had because they weren't drawing any new ones. I think that the people in Cryptology memorized the most complex words they could use, especially the ones that included the letters that were worth the most points. I saw Mike put down a four-letter word that included a 'y' when he could have put down a five-letter one and gotten a bonus on it. The four-letter word was worth more points by itself, but he wasn't thinking about the bonus, which would have gotten him more points overall."

Billy nodded thoughtfully. Amanda's explanation was a bit rambling, as usual, but he understood what she was saying. "So he was so busy showing off, he wasn't thinking about strategy, huh? Sounds like just plain overconfidence."

"I think so, sir," Amanda said. "He would have done much better if he'd paid more attention to the spaces and used them to his advantage. Not just where the letters are, but where the bonuses are. They can really boost your score, no matter what words you put down, and because they can only be used by one person, once you've covered a bonus space, no one else can use it. It stays covered for the whole rest of the game."

"Amanda!" Lee said suddenly, sitting up straight in his chair.

"What?"

"That's it!"

"What's it?"

"What's what?" Billy asked. He paused in the middle of reaching for another piece of fudge.

"The Chameleon! I think we've been looking at the situation from the wrong angle," Lee explained. "All this time, we've been worried about who the Chameleon is going to impersonate and what it would take to spot him. Instead of thinking about 'who' and 'what,' we should be thinking about '_where_!' Like you said, it's all about space and how you use it. We just need to think about the space we need to cover . . . "

Billy and Amanda listened with rapt attention while Lee explained his plan.


	4. Bonus Space

**Chapter 4: Bonus Space**

Getting into the Symposium wasn't a problem for the Chameleon. It was being held at a public hotel. The lobby was busy. People were coming and going, carrying luggage, meeting their friends, standing around and chatting, asking the staff for directions. With so many people, it wasn't difficult for the Chameleon to blend in. The Chameleon was already an expert at that.

In theory, the Chameleon would need an invitation to get into the meeting room where the Symposium was being held, but there were ways of getting around that, too. It was prudent not to move too quickly, though.

The victim had already entered, along with the one the Chameleon intended to replace. The two of them were together right now, but at large functions like this, they would eventually separate, talk to other people, mingle in different parts of the crowd. When they were apart would be the time to strike.

But, when The Chameleon finally entered the meeting room, it became apparent that, for once, things weren't going to plan.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

The International Science Symposium took place at the Ashton Hotel. Lee stood next to Dr. Volkov as he shook hands with various colleagues after giving his speech. It felt a little strange not having Amanda with him, but he knew that she was needed elsewhere for now.

Lee hoped that his plan hadn't frightened the Chameleon away. It was true that Dr. Volkov would be safe if the Chameleon had fled, but Lee was still hoping that he and his team would catch him. It was really a question of whether or not the Chameleon would be willing to vary his usual routine.

Suddenly, Lee stiffened as he saw one of Dr. Volkov's friends, Dr. Worthy, approach. He looked much more jolly than in the pictures Lee had seen before now that he was grinning behind his white beard. But, that wasn't what was disturbing Lee.

"Congratulations, my friend! That was an excellent speech," Dr. Worthy said, reaching out to give Dr. Volkov a friendly embrace. Already on his guard, Dr. Volkov took a step back.

"Now!" Lee yelled to Scofield and Corbett. They moved at once, grabbing hold of Dr. Worthy.

"What are you doing?" the man cried. He struggled hard, but they managed to wrestle the carefully-concealed dagger out of his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Chameleon," Lee said.

"How did you know?" the Chameleon said softly. His voice was deadly calm and devoid of expression. The British accent had disappeared. Lee couldn't pinpoint what kind of accent the Chameleon spoke with, but he noticed that his voice wasn't as deep as it had been before.

While Lee took a closer look at the Chameleon, the man in the beard glared back at him. One corner of his fake whiskers had been jarred loose during the struggle. Lee couldn't resist the temptation to pull the false beard the rest of the way off.

"Well, what have we here?" Lee said.

The face beneath the beard was more feminine than he'd expected.

"I take it back. Is it Miss, Mrs., or Ms. Chameleon?"

As expected, there was no answer.

"I look forward to seeing what you really look like back at headquarters," Lee said. "You two had better take her. Get a couple of the guards from outside to accompany you as backup."

Scofield and Corbett hustled their prisoner from the room while the other guests of the Symposium stared and murmured.

"Your plan worked well, Mr. Stetson," Dr. Volkov said. "I thank you."

"You're welcome," Lee said. "Parker and Lang will stay with you while I go check on the real Dr. Worthy."

As Lee made his way upstairs, he realized that he was still holding the fake beard. He shoved it into his pocket. Of course, he'd have to keep the beard for evidence. He was looking forward to seeing what the Chameleon looked like once she was out of her Dr. Worthy disguise.

Lee showed his ID to the guards standing outside Room 201 and gave them the password they'd worked out ahead of time, "Santa's Little Helper."

After they had confirmed his identity, he tapped on the door, then stepped back so that Amanda could get a good look at him through the peephole.

"What's the password?" she asked when she opened the door.

"Silex," Lee said with a grin, giving her the second security password.

"Come on in," Amanda said. "Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. We've caught the Chameleon."

Amanda smiled. "I knew you could do it!"

"How is everyone here?"

"Everyone's fine."

Although Dr. Volkov had brought his friends and family with him to the Symposium as he had planned, they had been taken to this suite almost immediately upon their arrival. Lee's plan had been to keep them all in one place under guard until after the Chameleon had been caught or the Symposium ended. As Amanda had said, if you cover and control a space, your opponent can't. Covering all of these people as individuals moving through a crowd would have been too difficult, but gathering them in a single location and covering the location was much easier. That way, they could be certain where Dr. Volkov's real friends and family were, and they would know that anyone they found who looked like one of them was an imposter.

The Agency could have put them under guard at Dr. Volkov's home, but Lee had hoped that, seeing them arrive at the hotel, the Chameleon would proceed with his . . . _her_ plans and be caught in the act. Not being able to find and incapacitate Dr. Worthy before impersonating him might have caused the Chameleon to abandon her mission, but the KGB wouldn't have been very forgiving if she'd failed. They hadn't left her with much time to rethink her strategy, and Lee was counting on her overconfidence to convince her to go through with it.

Although Dr. Volkov's guests had been disappointed about not seeing his speech in person, they understood that his welfare depended upon the Agency's ability to keep track of them and had cooperated with Lee's plan. To help make up for the disappointment of not being able to attend the Symposium, the Agency had made arrangements with the hotel to provide them with a lavish feast while they waited for the Symposium to end. The hotel had an excellent chef, and much of what he provided seemed to consist of traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so it was like Thanksgiving all over again. Dr. Worthy was currently enjoying a large slice of pecan pie and laughing with Dr. Rollins and Danil Volkov about something.

Lee explained to Amanda what had happened downstairs and how they had caught her when she tried to approach Dr. Volkov.

"Did you say _her_?" Amanda asked. "The Chameleon's a woman?"

"Yep," Lee said. "That does explain how she's been able to impersonate women in the past. When she dresses up like men, she uses makeup and fake beards." He showed Amanda the beard he'd taken from the Chameleon and explained about her Dr. Worthy disguise.

"You see," Amanda said, "with a beard like that, it's difficult to tell it's a woman underneath it."

"I guess so."

"So it's also possible for a woman to play Santa Claus."

"It's possible, but all the same, I'm glad you won't have to do it." Very glad indeed, Lee thought privately.

He still hadn't told Amanda about Evelyn McShane, and hopefully, she'd never have to hear about it. That afternoon, he'd had a quiet word with Bob Pearson, suggesting to him that he ask Ogilvy about Evelyn's old costume, supposedly for the "helper" he was going to try to recruit. Upon obtaining the costume, Bob was then under strict orders to get rid of it. Some things were just not worth having around, especially in the wrong hands.

"I have to go back downstairs in a few minutes," Lee said, "but then we'll bring Dr. Volkov up here to join his family. Suppose that I could steal a little of the pie before I go?"

"Help yourself. The Volkovs told me I was welcome to have some earlier, but I just couldn't. The food looks good, but after all that turkey both at home and at the office . . ."

"Yeah, I know," Lee said, grinning. "I was thinking of making a pot roast tomorrow night."

"I love pot roast!"

"I know. I thought you might like to have some, too."

"We've got room for it in our fridge now."

"I though you might like to have some with me at my place."

"You're inviting me for dinner?"

Lee nodded. "Someone's got to help me eat it up, and I think you're just the person," he said jokingly.

"Always glad to help," Amanda said. "I'm looking forward to it."

As Lee left the room, he reflected that he was very thankful for was that Amanda was his partner . . . and that she good at word games, too.

**The End**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Jestress's new vocabulary words, as defined by Webster's New World College Dictionary:

Atomy – (noun, archaic), "an atom; tiny thing"

Djins – (plural noun, alternate spelling of jinn or djinn from Muslim folklore), "a supernatural being that can take human or animal form and influence human affairs"

Silex – (noun), "silica, esp. in the form of flint or quartz" or "heat-resistant glass made of fused quartz"


End file.
